EZRA AT THE METRO
Once delivered a
paper on
Pound
when I told
them it was
all of
thirty (30)
handwritten pages
(hardly imagist
certainly no way haiku)
the apparition
of those listening,
sickening faces
bloke called Coetzee pounding
his head on the table
in exasperation
this Modernism moment
suddenly all avocado
on
a leaf-
green surround.
SEED TO STORM
seed to
perfect storm
let us
consider
that dynamic
explosive this energy
in the million
volt zig-
zag of its release
Nazaré
Teahupoo
surf that water mountain
until it crashes into
a swirl
of demented foam
when the world breaks for us
against us
when storm
supercharges our
lives
go with that flow
at ultra velocities
plug yourself in
what
else can you
are you
supposed to do?
seed to
perfect storm
storm to perfect seed
CROSSING THE LINE Oceanic white tips gather it is all so pagan this ritual of Poseidon as we cross the line and are in the Southern hemisphere tipping the world upside down so that beautiful Cape Town where oceans and currents meet the new apex city seems only fair if the North wants to humiliate itself standing on its head turning somersaults a reversal of perspective seems a necessary corrective in Universe of absolute relativity it is long overdue
AND THE YELLOW FLOWERS
and the fierce yellow flowers
outside my bedroom
peered through the window
like
security policemen
told me
harshly
we are
all
sunshine
in no
uncertain terms
we are
all sunlight itching
to break out
as nuclear
fission
forever primed
but
unable to explode
and the yellow flowers
hitting
critical mass
outside my bedroom
now my former bedroom
trash talking as
per usual but
I’m no longer
there to hear
EXERCISE
you cannot go
into a classroon
proclaim to
the kids
today, children, I have
something lovely
for you to do:
today
in class
we are going to get
creative
have
real fun, drawimg
painting what
the soldier saw
or sculpt a little diorama
or create a tiny script
and then
enact it
as a play, or maybe film
the play or maybe
a black and white or
technicolout film
we have
so much red paint
it’s going to be spectacular
buckets of red paint
for you head
to toe
to slosh around
an exercise for all of us
to forever remember
death is the scene
death must
never forget
LEFT my father said I could not do anything right so I stepped to the left jumped to the left, skipped to the left played football wearing number eleften read Sartre, Adorno, Marcuse, Zizek fought in Spain for the Republicans going back in time my father said I couldn’t do anything right his left side having shrivelled and died
AND SERPENT
the man
was Adam
and serpent
the woman
was Eve
and serpent
and I am their
serpent child
who slithered
back in time
to seduce them
in eating the
forbidden fruit
that I
might be born
ULTIMATE ULTIMATION
here they are
you raw meat
paid for
attack dogs
here
at the tribunal
to lay down
the law
ram down
our throats
your ultimate ultimation
not for the truth
not for humanity
but for the lobby, desperate
for survival, desperate
for salvation
shame your
weapon of mass coercion
you should yourselves
be ashamed of
if you had
an ounce of subtlety
of integrity, a gram
poems 2 die for